The fifth event will feature a special twist on the traditional format as new Lightning owner Jeff Vinik will join emerging second-year superstar Steven Stamkos on the stage inside the lower bowl at the St. Pete Times Forum. The Lightning Girls, Thunderbug and the Lightning Mobile Marketing Truck will also be present to provide fans with the opportunity to score free giveaways and great prizes including signed jerseys, hats and pucks.

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This iamge, provided by the Tampa Bay Lightning, does new owner Jeff Vinik no justice.

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It's been a busy day with the trade deadline.  It was also busy in the boardroom as Jeff Vinik hammered out final details of his purchase fo the Tampa Bay Lightning from OK Hockey.  

Tampa Bay Sports and Entertainment LLC -- Vinik's company founded for this purchase and operation of the Lightning -- is now in control of the team after the NHL Board of Governors approved of the deal.

The official press release is below the fold.

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More photos » Graham Hughes - AP

Brian Lawton, general manager of Tampa Lightning hockey team, finds himself on the hot-seat after his handlin of coach Wes Walz dismissal from the Lightning. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Graham Hughes)

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While reading John Romano's column today in the St. Pete Times, a funny thing happened:  I saw a poorly done parody of The Godfather in statement's made by Lightning GM Brian Lawton:

"I have friends, and I value my friends. But when it comes to evaluations and performance, I always have to set that aside. In some cases, like this one, I will remove some people from the process so they don't have to deal with that," Lawton said. "I like that our coaches are a close-knit group. I think that's a real strength. But I still have to evaluate them as a group and individually.

"That may not always sit well, but that's part of my job, and I cannot hide."

The dismissal of Wes Walz was not personal, it was business...  And while that may be the ultimate truth, it's the bungled execution of the operation that  has put the entire Lightning organization on the hot seat.  

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We're nine games into the NHL season and the last thing fans should want to do is put the sideshow of f ownership on the front burner again...  That's a distraction that is not welcome when you'd much rather focus on items that matter to this team, like sealing-the-deal in games instead of allowing late goals, power play percentage, and shootout (non-naked, thank you) improvements..

Those are much more worthy pastimes for Lightning fans to talk about right now, but for the sake of reporting news (or, more of a reminding the masses), we must interrupt our regularly scheduled hockey talk to bring up the trials and tribulations of Oren Koules, Len Barrie and OK (Not Quite) Hockey.

You may recall the little spat between owners...  Koules in control, Barrie wants control, Gary Bettman wants the situation resolved, Palace Sports wants their money paid to them, and Jim Balsillie is a prick. 

Both Barrie and Koules were given 60-day windows to buy the other out.  Barrie's window closed in early September (though Koules waived Barrie's deadline -- giving him the opportunity to get a bid together without time constraints) and with November only days away, Koules own window of opportunity is fast closing.  

Yeah, it's been 120 days and things still are not resolved.

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In private at times, I call the 2004 Stanley Cup championship the "Andreycup" in homage of former team captain and long time NHL veteran Dave Andreychuk finally hoisting Lord Stanley's chalice above his head in victory.  It's an acknowledgment of enduring to claim the ultimate NHL victory as well as his contribution to the team from the moment he joined the franchise.

Dave only played for three full seasons with the Bolts.  You may recall the end of his career, mid-fourth season, and his January 2006 waiving by the team.  Not exactly classy, but Dave had lost a step in "the new NHL"...  A year layoff had hurt him (thank you, NHL lockout *grumble*).  His place in franchise history had been cemented however, regardless.

It's been almost four years since the waiving and retirement of Andreychuk from the NHL.  Dave is still very much involved in the local community and the Tampa Bay Lightning franchise as a whole.  With those facts out there and a deep appreciation for what Andreychuk accomplished for the team, Chris  Reddaway thought it was high time for the Bolts to correct  what he sees as a wrong.

Reddaway created a group on Facebook devoted to getting #25 retired by the Lightning, and raised to the rafters of Times Palace:

Reddaway explains on the group that:

I was sitting around this morning...err...I mean working really hard!! But the thought came to me, "Why isn't Dave's #25 hanging from the rafters?" My wife and I had the discussion previously and I really thought it was going to happen the night that the Lightning honored him after he retired. But there I sat, shocked, that it didn't happen. A real missed opportunity in my opinion!

The group is an impassioned outcry over getting #25 retired in honor of Captain Andreychuk...  I see it as a debatable honor, simply in the fact the Lightning have never retired a number before...  But it's a debate certainly worth having.

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SB Nation's NHL sites have been showcasing season previews for each of the 30 NHL clubs the past few weeks, leading up to the start of the new NHL season.  James Mirtle has also reviewed each team over at From the Rink.  Today it's the Tampa Bay Lightning in the spotlight.

Overview:

Upheaval and volatility are the first two words that come to mind when trying to summarize what Tampa Bay Lightning fans witnessed last season. The upheaval started in the forging of the 2008-2009 team by firing John Tortorella and replacing him with Barry Melrose – who hadn’t coached a professional hockey game in well over a decade. Add to it all the additions and subtractions during the 2008 off season, plus the laissez faire preseason and too-many-cooks-in-the-kitchen management of the team, and the Bolts were set up to either defy the odds or sink to the bottom of the league.

…And sink they did.

52 players suited up for the Bolts last season in a constant revolving door. Melrose was fired after 16 games and Rick Tocchet was named Interim head coach for the remainder of the season. From that point on, things only got worse as the injury bug was rampant in Tampa as a poorly conditioned squad, due to Melrose’s preseason expectations, was required to play a more physical game under Tocchet. One by one, players dropped like flies, and the only thing that was left was to wonder which of the top three picks they would receive in the June entry draft.

Looking ahead instead of behind, the Lightning’s 2009-2010 campaign is as heavy in promise as it is with caution. Optimism can be had from any number of aspects with this team, but it’s a very cautious optimism as the scars and issues that dogged the franchise last season are still present in one form or another.

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Earlier today, Lightning Director of Corporate Communications Angelina Lawton sent out via Twitter the following:

Yellow Cab has agreed to put our campaign on 300 of their cabs... SO COOL!

300 Big Yellow Taxis (cue Joni Mitchell) zooming around the area with the Bolts on board...  Not a bad job with brand exposure...

This is another colorful marketing decision by the Lightning to get the name and the faces of the team out in public view.  The Bolts marketing team has worked heavily during the off season on getting the campaign and the brand out there.  You saw, earlier in the summer, when the Bolts launched an interactive season ticket push that was much better than the intrusive campaign employed by another team in town. 

In fact, you have to deliberately be avoiding advertisements to miss out on the Lightning the last few weeks.  "Together We Will" and mention of last month's Fan Fest have been in print and online ads for weeks on end.

This has been a far cry from just a year ago by the Lightning, who stopped promoting the team afte the "Seen Stamkos?" campaign ran it's course.  Oh, they were still making waves with moves by the team....  But with a brief training camp in the area and then shuttling off to Europe for exhibition games and then the start of the season, it was easy to forget that the NHL season had even begun for the local team.

This year?  Quite the opposite...

Saturday evening will see a charity scrimmage and events take place at Fan Fest with all proceeds going towards the Mike Roberts fund.  Tampa Bay area residents may recall that Cpl. Mike Roberts was gunned down last week in Tampa.  I don't want to go into the grim details of the story...  The link is there if you'd like to hear what happened.

The Tampa Bay Lightning put together a charity event to help raise money for the Corporal Mike Roberts Memorial Fund that was set up For Cpl. Roberts family:

During the game each Lightning player’s or alumnus’ jersey worn on the ice will be available for auction on the concourse behind section 101. Each player will autograph his jersey following the game and personally present it to the respective auction winner. There will also be a memorabilia auction behind sections 101-130. Proceeds from both will go toward the Cpl. Mike Roberts Memorial Fund. Fans will also be able to make cash contributions via numerous donation locations throughout the St. Pete Times Forum.

The charity game will be played from 5PM until 6PM.  The entire Fan Frest event will be from 3-8PM at Times Palace in downtown Tampa. 

The following are your rosters for the charity game...  Big thumbs up to both current Bolts and team alumni for stepping in:

Team Navy -- Coach – Ian Beckles (620 WDAE Radio Personality)

• Martin St. Louis (Lightning Forward)
• Steven Stamkos (Lightning Forward)
• Jeff Halpern (Lightning Forward)
• Andrej Meszaros (Lightning Defenseman)
• Stan Neckar (Lightning Alumni)
• Wes Walz (Lightning Assistant Coach)
• Ray Thill (Lightning Head Equipment Manager)
• Rob "Bubba" Kennedy (Lightning Assistant Equipment Manager)
• Clay Roffer (Lightning Assistant Equipment Manager)
• Michael Hutner (Tampa Police Department)
• Frank Ruedy (Tampa Police Department)
• Tommy Mayer (Tampa Police Department)
• Mark Cholnik (Tampa Police Department)
• (G) John Finnie (Brandon Ice Sports Forum)

Team White -- Coach – Phil Esposito (Hockey Hall-of-Famer)

• Ryan Malone (Lightning Forward)
• Adam Hall (Lightning Forward)
• Mattias Ohlund (Lightning Defenseman)
• Victor Hedman (Lightning Defenseman)
• Matt Walker (Lightning Defenseman)
• Dave Andreychuk (Lightning Alumni)
• Chris Dingman (Lightning Alumni)
• Brian Bradley (Lightning Alumni)
• Nigel Kirwan (Lightning Video Coach)
• Tom Mulligan (Lightning Head Athletic Trainer)
• Evan Trefcer (Tampa Police Department)
• Braxton Baird (Tampa Police Department)
• Michael Palmieri (Tampa Police Department)
• Bob Barrett (Tampa Police Department)
• (G) Pat Jablonski (Lightning Alumni)

Sun Sports TV personalities Rick Peckham and Paul Kennedy will also be interviewing participants of the game from the benches.

For more information on Fan Fest activities and information, please see the Tampa Bay Lightning website.